President Awards Medal of Freedom To 16 Amidst Some Controversy Over One Awardee

At a White House ceremony yesterday, Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 16 recipients. (Full text of President's remarks). Among the recipients were Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Joseph Lowery. The decision to include Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, as a recipient has drawn criticism from a number of Jewish groups. As reported by the Washington Post yesterday, critics focused particularly on her role as chair of the United Nations 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. She failed to keep the conference from becoming a forum for promoting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias. The White House, though, insisted it is honoring Robinson for her advocacy of women's rights and equal rights. A JTA op-ed does a good job of explaining the objections of those who oppose the award to her. However there have been some Jewish defenders of Robinson's record. (JTA).